Birmingham Central Heating Installation & Boiler Replacement

Is your old boiler costing you money? Higher fuel bills? Poor heat output?If so it’s time to replace your old boiler….

Heating accounts for more than 59% of what you pay in a year for energy bills, so it’s not surprising a new energy efficient boiler can make a significant difference, and reduce your energy bills.The technology used by the manufacturers of new gas boilers has improved year upon year. The outcome of this is that new boilers are able to offer significantly improved performance levels. Modern boilers are far more efficient for several reasons. The main improvement is that they are all condensing boilers. A well-maintained boiler will burn its fuel efficiently, but it will inevitably drop some heat in the hot gases that escape up the flue. Condensing boilers have superior heat exchangers, so they recover more heat, sending cooler gases up the flue and is therefore more efficient. Occasionally the flue gases get so cool that the water vapour in the gas condenses out (hence the name), and even more energy is recovered from the condensing vapour.

Almost all new gas boilers manufactured today are condensing boilers. This method that is able to utilise a lot more of the heat energy that a boiler produces compared to older non-condensing alternatives. Condensing boilers are therefore deemed to be a lot more efficient than older gas boilers.Upgrading to a new A-rated boiler can have significant benefits. Not only are they going to be more reliable and a easier to locate spare parts in the rare event that anything goes wrong, but fitting an A-rated boiler in your home will also save you a plenty of money in the longer term!The UK Energy Saving Trust predict that you can save up to £490 per year from your heating bill by moving from an old non efficient gas boiler to an A-rated model. Considering this amount of saving it is easy to understand how over a period of time making the switch to a new energy efficient boiler can end up more than paying for itself.

Choosing the correct boiler is an important Decision for any household. As boiler installers in Birmingham, we are here to help you make the right choice - call us and we will be happy to discuss what is best for you. Most types of boiler are high efficiency or 'condensing' boilers. This Means the boiler recovers more heat from the gas burnt, making them much more efficient than conventional boilers, with seasonal efficiencies in excess of 90%. Although high efficiency boilers are more expensive to install, they are very economical - and can repay the extra initial cost in fuel savings. How do you identify which system you have? Well if your hot water is heated by the gas boiler for immediate use and you don’t have a hot water cylinder then you are likely to have a combination boiler or “combi”. If you do have a hot water cylinder then the gravity fed system can be identified if you have a cold water tank and an expansion overflow tank (often in the loft of a house). High pressure (unvented systems) are less common but do not have tanks in the loft and deliver water at mains pressure.

COMBI BOILER REPLACEMENT

A combi (or combination) boiler is an ingenious space-saving idea, and an increasingly popular choice in UK homes. In fact, combis now account for well over half of all the new domestic boilers installed in Britain every year. A combi boiler is both a high-efficiency water heater and a central heating boiler, combined (hence the name) within one compact unit. Therefore, no separate hot water cylinder is required, offering space saving within the property. Further benefits of a combi boiler are significant savings on hot water costs and the fact that hot water is delivered through your taps or shower at mains pressure. Another combi boiler benefit is that it can generally save you money on installation time and costs, since no tank in the roof space means less pipe work and a shorter installation time.

CONVENTIONAL BOILER REPLACEMENT

Conventional gas boilers also known as Open Vent Gas Boilers and Gravity fed systems come with a separate hot water cylinder are the heart of most old-fashioned heating systems. They provide heat for radiators directly and produce hot water which is stored in a separate hot water cylinder. The cold water is normally supplied by a cold water cistern, usually in the loft above the boiler (gravity feed) and there is also a separate expansion cistern.These arrangements take up much more space than a combi boiler system, but because there is a large tank of stored hot water you can use several taps at once. This makes this type of system more suitable for larger houses with two or more bathrooms.Unless a hot water cylinder is very well insulated it usually loses heat into its surroundings, thereby wasting energy. And the amount of hot water you can use is limited by the size of your cylinder. For instance you might run a bath, and then need to wait for the boiler to heat up the water in the cylinder again before you can run another.Advantages:High flow rate for domestic hot waterMore than one hot tap / shower can easily operate at same timeDisadvantages:Once the water in the storage cylinder runs out you have to wait for it to reheat.You'll need to find space for the cylinder (usually an airing cupboard)The bulk feed and expansion tanks are usually sited in the loft.

SYSTEM BOILER REPLACEMENT

A system boiler also known as unvented, is just like an open-vent gas boiler, it works on the same principle of stored hot water. However, many of the major individual components of the heating and hot water system are built into a system boiler, which means that installation is quicker, neater, easier and more efficient. Secondly, the hot water is pumped from the system boiler through the heating system to the radiators and hot water cylinder, resulting in a fast response and more economical running costs. The system boiler removes the need for a feed and expansion cistern. It is the ideal choice for the modern family home which needs every inch of space for storage and has a high demand for hot water, no need for water tanks in the loft as with an open vent gas boiler.